


together we will see it through

by stormwarnings



Series: tolkien gen week 2020 [1]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Gen, I made myself sad, Pre-War of the Ring, Tolkien Gen Week 2020, cousin bonding, cute lil dwarrows, day one - family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-06
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:15:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25110745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stormwarnings/pseuds/stormwarnings
Summary: Gimli is soon to leave for Rivendell, so he takes a few minutes to say farewell to those he misses the most.
Relationships: Fíli & Gimli (Son of Glóin) & Kíli
Series: tolkien gen week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820518
Comments: 9
Kudos: 26
Collections: Tolkien Gen Week 2020





	together we will see it through

**Author's Note:**

> first tolkien fic on here! day one of [Tolkien Gen Week](https://tolkiengenweek.tumblr.com/) woo

Gimli sat down. He made himself comfortable, his back against the wall, and took off his boots.

“They’re sending me to the elves,” he said. “I am not sure what they hope to find there; elves do dither and talk, refusing all the time to give any kind of straight answer. It is frustrating, when I am so used to the straightforwardness of our people.” He hesitated, for a moment, and then laughed. “Yes, I know what you would say. Our people are not straightforward at all, and yet so we seem in the face of the elves.” He laughed again. “What a change of pace. For once I am the dwarf being sent to confer with the elves, and for once it is serious!”

He blinked, and he could see for a moment in his mind’s eye, ghosts of days long past.

_Three little dwarrows ran by. There’s a blond, pristine braids already in his hair, his clothes neat and tidy. Next to him, a brunette, loud and grinning. And behind them all, a redhead with wild hair, significantly smaller than the other two_.

_“Wait up!” Shouted the redhead. “Come on, let me play!”_

_"We’re raiding,” the brunette said self-importantly. “There’s orcs, and we must rescue the Firebeard princess. No place for little ones, no, there might be danger and blood.”_

_“I’m a Firebeard,” responded the redhead. “And I’m not afraid!”_

_The brunette rolled his eyes. “But you’re not a Firebeard princess, stupid. And you’re much too young to be participating in this sort of fighting.”_

_The blond looked at the redhead, who appeared dejected. “Here,” said the blond. “I have an important mission for you. You must go to the elves, little cousin. Off to the elves, and make sure they’ll help us!”_

_The redhead nodded enthusiastically, and as he ran off in a different direction, the blond and the brunette shared a secret smile and a fist bump._

Gimli smiled. “I truly am off on an important mission this time. I am fully grown, now, and though I long to stay here and help protect my home, I am glad to be off, to see the world.” The smile fell off his face, and for a moment he looked many years older than he rightly should. “I simply hope that our home is not destroyed while I am gone, so soon after we have taken it back.”

And then there they were again.

_“I’m going to fight the dragon,” said the redhead, now looking a little older, starting to grow into the wild hair around his head. He swung a training axe, a bigger blade than he rightfully should._

_The brunette laughed. “Not like that, you aren’t!” He put a hand on the redhead’s arm, halting the axe._

_The redhead looked at him, frowning. “Why not? I’m older now than you were when you started with the bow!”_

_“No, I won’t stop you,” the brunette said. “But if you hold it like that, your arms will tire more quickly, and your hands will grow cramped.” He put his hands over the redhead’s, readjusting their grip. “That’s better. And do not forget to be aware of your surroundings! I would rather not lose my head to your reckless swinging.”_

_The redhead nodded, and then carefully began going through the movements again._

_“Brother,” came a call, and the blond appeared, striding into the training area._

_The redhead paused again. “How are his braids always so neat?”_

_The brunette snorted. “Because he doesn’t do them himself. He’s the crown prince, after all.”_

_“Oh,” said the redhead. “Nobody can ever get my hair to behave.”_

_“I can see why,” the brunette muttered. Then he looked at the blond. “What is it?”_

_“Mother wants to see us,” he responded. “And she is aggravated, so you better come quick. What did you do?”_

_The brunette scoffed. “Why do you always assume it was my – oh.” His face paled. “Alright, cousin, don’t forget what I taught you!” He rushed away, dragging his brother._

_The redhead laughed, and resumed his training._

Gimli sighed. The little dwarrows in his mind’s eye were no longer quite so young. He fingered the beads in the braids hanging on either side of his head, and smiled a little.

_The brunette sighed and flopped onto the bed. “Even you, little cousin,” he said glumly. “Have more beard than I.”_

_“At least you get to go on the quest,” the redhead said grumpily. “You’re only fifteen years older than me! I ought to be able to go, too.”_

_“It’s going to be dangerous,” the blond told him. “It’s going to be very dangerous, and Mother is not happy that we are going anyway.”  
_

_The redhead huffed, trying to put a braid in his hair._

_“Besides,” the brunette piped up. “You haven’t mastered the spinning axes yet.”_

_The blond shot him a look. He turned to the redhead. “Here, let me help you.” He started putting the braid in, carefully twining all the strands together in the complex weave._

_“Doesn’t there need to be two?” The brunette asked, and then jumped up. “I’ll do the other side.”_

_“It’s just not fair,” the redhead said as they both try to wrangle his hair into thick braids, hanging down the sides of his head. “It’s stupid. I want to go.”_

_“It’s not going to be all fun,” the blond reminded him. “It’s going to be a lot of walking, and dealing with Uncle Thorin being grumpy and brooding,” the brunette and the redhead snorted in tandem, “and who knows what we’ll find in the end.”_

_He tied off the braid, and pulled a bead from his own hair. “Here,” he said, carefully threading it on the end. “Now you won’t forget about us.”_

_The brunette did the same, although the bead that he placed was silver, and not the gold of the blond’s. “Not that you will, little cousin. We are much too grand to be forgotten. After all, we’re going to slay the dragon!”_

_The blond rolled his eyes in exasperation as the redhead’s face grew frustrated again. “When we come back, you had better be the best warrior here.”_

_The brunette laughed. “I’ll be expecting a duel with you.”_

_The redhead laughed too, but for a different reason. “I don’t have to be very good to beat you.”_

_The brunette stuck his tongue out, but didn’t deny it. “Fine. Then you had best be good enough to beat Dwalin, by the time we get back.”_

_The redhead’s eyes grew wide. “Dwalin?”_

_The brunette glanced at the blond, who smiled. “Yes,” the blond said. “When we get back, you must be good enough with the axes to beat even Dwalin. And after this, we’ll never leave you behind. It would be folly to do so, you being such a good warrior and all.”_

_The redhead looked determined. “I will.” But after a moment, glancing at the twin beads in his hair, the look slipped away, and he suddenly looked very young. “You will come back, won’t you?”  
_

_The brunette and the blond looked at each other, and where the redhead looked youthful and scared, for a moment they two looked old beyond their years._

_“Of course we will, little Gimli,” the brunette said. “Of course we will.”_

Gimli wiped away a single tear from his eye. He said, “I can beat Dwalin now, you know. And I’m taking the beads with me. I’ll journey all the way to the elves with your two beads in my hair, and this time you two shall help me liaison.” He looked at the twin tombs.

_Fíli, son of_ _Dís. Kíli, son of_ _Dís._

“I’m coming back, this time. I am. I promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope that was enjoyed :) come find me on [Tumblr](https://stormwarnings.tumblr.com/) !!!


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